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There is a problem in the tech community called “Devsplaining“. This notion is used to describe when “experts” condescendingly explain to others the “proper way to code”.

The thing is that there is really is no proper way to code. Usually, the “experts” unnecessarily complicate stuff. As a result, most beginners think they need to study coding for years and know everything about the latest technology before they are capable of contributing anything valuable. With this kind of mindset, most never share anything they create. In tech, this means that people never launch their project or never even start because they think they aren’t ready.

Exactly the same problem exists in physics, mathematics and probably most other scientific fields. The problem is so widespread that there isn’t even a name for it. It’s just so normal.

It’s nonsense that you need to spend your best years doing complicated calculations to prove they are good enough. It’s nonsense that you must be capable of doing the most complicated calculations before you can add something. It’s nonsense that you need to master every mathematical aspect before you can contribute anything significant to the field.

If you now roll your eyes because you have seen this cartoon already 100 times, please let me explain.

The thing is that while in exams the task usually is comparable to the task “climb the tree” here, the overall “task”, for example, in physics is much broader. Maybe more like “understand the tree”. Climbing the tree is a viable possibility to understand some aspects of the tree, but certainly not exhaustive.

The thing is that “Devsplainers” try to convince everyone that the only thing worth doing is to climb the tree and that you have to do it in a very specific way.

However, with a broader goal like “understand the tree” in mind it’s easy to imagine how each of the animals in the cartoon could contribute.

The fish and bird could together figure out where the water comes from that are crucial for the tree. The elephant could use his strength to open up a “window” to look inside… You get the idea.

As an aside: From this perspective, it’s clear how problematic it is that students usually are only asked to “climb the tree” in exams. Many students who could contribute in other ways are filtered out. However, this is a quite different story I don’t want to dive into here.

I’m trying to get more people to share what they learn. The thing is, as I like to emphasize, beginners need explanations from beginners to understand something and not polished stuff from “Devsplainers” who overcomplicate everything. If more people would share what they learn, everyone could learn more easily. Currently, we “are an army of wheel-reinventors” and I would like to help to change that. Moreover, sharing notes while learning is an example of how students can start contributing early on. Now, why aren’t more students doing this? There are two major obstacles:

Many don’t know they are “allowed” to do this or that others would care about their notes and

to motivate people to share their notes and show them that they don’t need permission.

To give them the tools and knowledge to do so.

(I really regret that I didn’t publish my notes while I was a student. While some of them are now published as a book, the majority of them no longer exist.)

So these are just my ideas. I’m certain there are more and I would love to hear them. Moreover, I think a crucial first step would be to give the problem a name like the tech people did with “Devsplaining”. With a fitting name, people could start to call people out for overcomplicating things and frighten beginners. So if you have an idea, please let me know.

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P.S. I wrote a textbook which is in some sense the book I wished had existed when I started my journey in physics. It's called "Physics from Symmetry" and you can buy it, for example, at Amazon. And I'm now on Twitter too if you'd like to get updates about what I'm recently up to.

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